Bookends

This week had two sets of bookend days along with a mid-week holiday, a bit odd but still a good week.

First set of bookends days: I worked at home on Monday to avoid roads decorated with driving snow, and tomorrow (New Year's Eve) will be a work-at-home day too.

Second set of bookend days: Tuesday and Thursday I worked in my usual "at the office" location.

A day in the middle, sandwiched between two sets of bookend days: I had one loose vacation day left that needed to be taken in 2010, so Wednesday was a holiday for me.

It was a beautiful sunny day with some cloud decorations in the blue sky, a perfect day to walk along the New Hampshire coast. For the most part the beaches were clear of snow although there was still a bit on Hampton Beach. The tide was going out leaving a smooth surface of sand covered with a sheen of water, perfect for reflections.

More photos from today can be seen at the beginning of the gallery New Hampshire's short coastline - 2010.

Home ahead of the storm

Yesterday was a day for keeping an eye on the weather forecast, for setting a target time for hopping into my car (this morning) for the 4 1/2 hour drive home. When I headed to upstate New York early on Friday the track of tonight's storm was still somewhat unknown, with the possibility remaining that the massive storm would veer out to sea after passing over Cape Cod. That didn't happen.

By late afternoon yesterday there was a blizzard warning up for a chunk of eastern Massachusetts. Hmm... It still sounded like the bulk of the storm wouldn't hit until late this afternoon or tonight, but the blizzard warning was noted as starting at noon. I decided it would be a good idea to start driving early today; 7AM seemed like a good time to hit the road.

The road was dry, with snow flurries starting to fly through the air as I crossed from New York into Massachusetts. Traffic was moving at just above the posted speed limit until I crossed into the eastern side of the state. There, the traffic slowed to about 40 miles per hour. It took a while for me to see the cause of the slowdown. As I peered ahead, I saw flashing arrows on the back of a truck pointing to the right and to the left. I moved into the right lane and was soon close enough to see the reason for the slowing traffic. The truck running down the center lane of the eastbound MassPike was a serious vehicle with two plow blades - one facing forward (yes, still lifted off of the road surface), one folded back against the right side of the truck, a blade that would easily cover a second highway lane when unfolded and in use. The combination plow / salt truck was scattering salt across all three lanes of the highway, a preparation for the snow to com. Once I moved past the truck, the highway speed quickly returned to (dry road) normal.

I arrived home well before the snow started here.

Blizzard Warning URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 532 PM EST SUN DEC 26 2010 ...A DANGEROUS WINTER STORM APPROACHING SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING... LOW PRESSURE OFF THE DELAWARE COAST WILL INTENSIFY INTO A POWERFUL NOREASTER TONIGHT AS IT PASSES NEAR NANTUCKET MONDAY MORNING. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW HAMPSHIRE... MUCH OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS... RHODE ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT. THIS STORM WILL PULL AWAY FROM SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND MONDAY WITH SNOW TAPERING OFF DURING THE MORNING BUT STRONG WINDS WILL CONTINUE... ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COAST. A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST MONDAY. Warning & map courtesy of the Boston office of the National Weather Service

It's been snowing for a number of hours now, snow accompanied by gusting wind. Yes, tomorrow is definitely going to be a work from home day.

Bare branches

A three-day weekend seemed a good time for a visit with my folks, a time for sitting, chatting. Even though it wasn't targeted as photo time, my camera jumped into my bag (just in case).

Today dawned gray and cold. By mid-afternoon the sun decided to play hide-and-seek, the temperature eased up just a bit, and I decided it was a good time for a walk. I realized quickly that stepping off of the road to get a slightly different view for a photo was a bad idea; one step and I was standing in deep snow. Oops! Snowshoes were the footwear of choice for stepping into that white stuff, not the boots that I had on my feet.

A few more photos from this afternoon's walk can be seen in the gallery Winter chill... 2011.

Icicles

Desert, water, red rocks... photos!

Photos from my southwest wander are loaded into galleries and ready for viewing. Start with the top level gallery, Desert, water, red rocks or click on the photos below to enter a specific gallery.

A few favorites:

Searching for water, Death Valley:


Red Rock Canyon and Spring Mountain Ranch:


Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, and a dam:

Interested in words? You can find my ramblings in my blog entries tagged Death Valley December 2010.

Lighthouse or icehouse?

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really wish that I had been in Cleveland last week. The last time I was there it was a hot summer's day back in 2002, as I was riding my bike across the country. It's not a location that calls out to me for a visit, but I wish I could have seen this wonder in person.

Last week the Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse was coated in ice, apparently the result of waves from Lake Erie crashing against the structure in subzero temperatures. The photos remind me of Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure why; I don't remember any ice in that story.

Interested? Click to read the story Winter wonderland: Ohio lighthouse covered in ice on boston.com.

Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe. I'd like to give credit to the actual photographer, but that information isn't included in the Globe article. The photo is in many, many publications, none showing the photographer's name.

Would you like to see more photos? I was lucky to see some photos posted by another photographer who also participates in the dgrin photography forum. Click here to jump to Ron Skinner's photo gallery "Frozen Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station". Click on the slideshow button and prepare to be amazed.

There really is a lighthouse under all of that ice. For non-ice-covered photos, click here to see some images of the lighthouse on the lighthousefriends.com site.

Solstice snow

Yesterday there was a bit of a storm that blew in from the Atlantic Ocean, tracking from the northeast. We had light snow here, but there were locations on Cape Cod that were graced with 10 inches of the white stuff.

The weather was quiet for a while this morning. White flakes started to fall, filling the air. The snow stopped, then started again.

Today is the dated tagged as the winter solstice. While the season often lags after the solstice (or equinox), it appears that winter has arrived.

Gray

I have a couple of stray vacation days that I need to use this year; today seemed like a good candidate for a bit of a wander.

It was a gray day, gray, windy, and brrr! cold. I felt the call of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, a favorite of mine for coastal wanders. As I walked on the side of the refuge away from the ocean I could hear the roar of the waves. The ocean was as wild today as it was quiet yesterday.

I saw only a single sea gull as I walked along the beach. It was a much better bird day on the inland (calmer) side of the refuge.

A few more photos from today can be seen in the gallery Parker River through the seasons - 2010.

Winter's lace

Ice to the west, ocean to the east

Lured by the ocean... I headed to the New Hampshire coast to walk, to listen to the quiet sound of calm ocean waves, to watch the birds, to watch surfers playing in light waves.

I saw a gaggle of (Canada) geese, floating on ocean waters, rising to fly as a group.
I saw sea gulls swimming, then slipping as they walked across wet ice.
I saw reflections in the wet sand as the tide turned from its high point.

It was a good day for a walk by the sea.

More photos from today can be seen in the gallery New Hampshire's short coastline - 2010. The gallery shows the newest photos at the beginning.